The Buddha Is Nowhere to Be Seen

This story features:

A ruthless, vindictive Grand Princess who keeps male lovers x a paragon of virtue, a truly good monk

My father is the emperor, my elder brother is the emperor, and even the current emperor calls me his younger aunt.

Wei Chenghua was born the most exalted princess in all of Great Wei.

She kept male lovers and was ruthless.

Xichen was the young monk she had snatched from Huangjue Temple.

“You’re quite handsome for a little monk.”

Unexpectedly, he threw out, “I would rather die than submit,” then resolutely hurled himself at a pillar nearby.

Wei Chenghua found him amusing instead.

Countless men in this world would do anything to get into her bed. This monk’s fiery temperament suited her perfectly.

The purer he was, the more she wanted to lure him into the mortal world.

Later…

Before the Buddha statue,

He bound her delicate, pale ankles with prayer beads and pinned her on the offering table, sweeping the offerings from the altar with one hand. He gripped her by the throat and held her in place.

“You’re mine!”

He lowered his head and bit down hard on her neck. She clenched her teeth, but the faint sound that escaped her throat made him release her. He looked as if he wanted to devour her alive, yet tears betrayed him.

“You brought me back to your manor. You have to take responsibility for me.”

From then on, she didn’t dare look at the Buddha again.

Note: The heroine is a little unhinged. She kills by day and gets emo at night. Sometimes she’s ruthless, sometimes kind.

The heroine is not a virgin, but the hero is.

The story moves at a fast pace.

“Brahma Maiden” blurb

Heroine: Cold-blooded and ruthless, decisive, makes deals but never offers compassion

Hero: Refined, obsessive, a gloomy ghost of a man

Plot blurb:

Ancient texts say that when people die, their souls may linger in the world if they have unfinished business, unwilling to be reborn. If their resentment is deep enough that they follow the living and ruin their fortune, they are considered evil spirits.

When the living encounter an evil spirit, they can burn a bundle of yellow paper at a crossroads, use their own blood to draw a small figure on the ground, light three incense sticks, and bow three times toward the southwest. If all three sticks remain standing, it means the Brahma Maiden has accepted the bargain.

On the Lantern Festival, a woman lit three incense sticks. Smoke filled the air, and the sound of golden bells rang out from within it. A red lantern appeared and vanished in the fog. In a daze, a beautiful young woman came walking barefoot. The golden bells at her ankles seemed able to ensnare the soul.

Everyone who sees her becomes dazed and foolish. No one knows what bargain they made.

All the world remembers of her is this line: “Seen through the haze, a ghostly lantern glimmers, revealing a peach-blossom face.”

Theme: All things arise from the mind, and all phenomena follow.